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Tourism in the red zone: BNPB defends disaster mitigation efforts
The government has defended its efforts to deal with disaster threats in priority tourist destinations, some of which lie in so-called red zones, or areas highly prone to natural catastrophes like earthquakes and tsunamis
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span>The government has defended its efforts to deal with disaster threats in priority tourist destinations, some of which lie in so-called red zones, or areas highly prone to natural catastrophes like earthquakes and tsunamis.
National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Agus Wibowo noted on Wednesday that the government — through the agency — had established the Disaster Safety Tourism Program to ensure safety from natural disasters in tourist destinations.
“The key element is the tourists’ understanding on disaster threats, the region’s emergency facilities, risk governance and risk management,” he told The Jakarta Post.
Agus pointed to Cekposisi, a smartphone app that informs users on disaster risks and alerts them to imminent threats.
“Currently, the application is available only in Bali, but it could be introduced in other areas too,” he said.
Agus made the statement in response to a claim by human rights research group hakasasi.id manager Daywin Prayogo that there was no comprehensive disaster mitigation plan in the country’s popular tourist destinations.
Daywin conveyed his criticism during a public discussion on environmental rights organized by the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) on Tuesday.
“Disaster mitigation has become a buzzword, but documents related to disaster mitigation plans only [set out] what to do during the incident and the reconstruction process. Indonesia’s disaster contingency plans only have the countermeasure aspect,” he said.
Daywin said this had emerged during his team’s analysis of 10 tourist destinations singled out by the government for accelerated development.
“As the late BNPB spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said, Indonesia’s tourist destination sites are extremely prone to disaster,” he said.
Daywin added that the Mandalika Special Economic Zone (KEK) in West Nusa Tenggara, touted as one of the priority tourist destinations, was located in an area known as the red zone as it was prone to various disasters.
Agus acknowledged that Mandalika was in a disaster-prone area, facing tsunami and earthquake threats, according to the BNPB’s online disaster map, INARISK.
“It’s true that the place is in a disaster-prone zone. However, that doesn’t mean they should not build [KEK] Mandalika there. The key thing is how we mitigate that risk,” he told the Post on Wednesday.
Mandalika is one of the 10 tourist destinations — dubbed the “10 new Balis” — that are promoted by President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s administration to attract more tourists. The government is currently grooming Mandalika, set to host the MotoGP event in 2021, as a tourism hot spot.
BNPB data reveal that three other new tourist destinations lie in red zones: Tanjung Lesung in Banten (for risks of earthquakes, flooding, tsunamis and landslides), Mount Bromo in East Java (earthquakes, volcanoes, landslides, forest fires and tornadoes) and Labuan Bajo in East Nusa Tenggara (earthquakes, tornadoes, drought, landslides and flooding).
The other six priority destinations are located in the moderate zone: Lake Toba in North Sumatra, Tanjung Kelayang in Bangka Belitung Islands, Thousands Islands in Jakarta, Borobudur temple in Central Java, Wakatobi Islands in Southeast Sulawesi and Morotai Islands in North Maluku.
The BNPB conducted disaster simulations at Lake Toba, Borobudur and Mandalika in 2018 to educate residents on disaster threats and analyze potential impacts.
Meanwhile, Walhi director Nur Hidayanti said at Tuesday’s discussion that disaster patterns in Indonesia had evolved because of climate change, with hydrological disasters still topping the list.
“In the past, floods and landslides were usually the most common disasters, but now tornadoes are becoming more frequent and tropical cyclones are on the rise,” she said.
Nur added that Indonesia now faced natural disaster threats throughout the year, as the dry season brought threats of forest fires and the rainy season brought threats of tropical cyclones.
Walhi also criticized Jokowi’s envisioned economic transformation as putting environmental concerns on the back burner.
“Currently, the energy industry in Indonesia is still too centralized, [relying on] large-scale power plants and ineffective long-range transmission”, Nur said.
She lambasted the government’s “deregulation” approach to economic development and environmental protection while threats of climate change were stronger than ever.
“[Jokowi’s] first administration issued 16 economic packages that are basically deregulation. Now, there are further deregulation through the planned omnibus law and the Online Single Submission [OSS] system that eliminates an investor’s obligation for the Environmental Impact Analysis [Amdal],” she said.
Walhi is filing for a judicial review of Government Regulation No. 24/2018 on electronic integrated business licensing services that eliminate the Amdal requirement, according to Nur.
Nur described the government’s plan to abolish Amdal and building licenses as a setback occurring at a time of global ecological crisis. (mpr)
